The IndyCar hybrid powertrain continues to be a talking point around the series, eight months after its initial introduction halfway through the 2024 season.

Drivers have largely adjusted to the new driving controls, and teams are still adjusting to the added costs the high-tech system has brought to each entry.

As he approaches 150 race starts and is in the middle of his 10th season in IndyCar, Alexander Rossi talked about what he feels are the pros and cons of the hybrid system in its current form.

“I have a list of cons,” said Rossi with a smile, implying that he was only half joking. “The pros are [the car now] starts itself. You can start yourself.

“The biggest thing is, I truly believe this, this isn’t a marketing PR line, it lays the foundation for future manufacturers to come into the sport.

“It’s no secret that the car market, the automotive market, the world market, in terms of automobiles has changed over the past decade.

“With the current format of engine that we have, it also makes perfect sense that a manufacturer wouldn’t want to necessarily come in and try and catch up to 10-plus years of development of an existing power train, right?”

Not attractive, but impressive

Largely, the hybrid system has not brought about much in the way of visible differences to an outside observer.

Lap times are very similar, the added weight nearly canceling the added power, and there is no discernable sound difference either.

But there are many new components under the side pods and inside the bellhousing that work together and allowed the hybrid system to function with minimal flaws during its first few events.

The technical achievement of the electrified power system is the main area where many see the series has moved forward.

It is this area that Rossi believes will benefit the series in the long run, with reliability from the outset combined with the promise of more visible power delivery in the future standing out.  

“The hybrid, while it might not be that attractive in its current guise, I think in terms of what we’ve done from a reliability standpoint is pretty impressive. What we did last year in terms of implementing a hybrid mid-season and the honestly lack of failures – .

“You’re going to have failures in race cars in every capacity. There wasn’t mass hybrid failures in the championship season. That was a huge win.

“You bring that forward to this year, and because the reliability has been so robust, we can start to incrementally increase the performance, increase the load and duty cycle on it throughout a lap and get more power, which we already saw at St. Pete. At St. Pete, it was already a much more effective tool than it had been at any point in 2024.

“While I think the list of pros now from a performance standpoint is short, I think it’s going to grow. I think for the long-term future health of the series, it doesn’t matter what the cons are at this point because it’s pretty clear that manufacturers want hybrids to be involved.”

Rossi has logged five top 10 finishes since the hybrid was introduced, including a 10th place run with his new team Ed Carpenter Racing in the opening round of the 2025 season.

This May, he will look to use the hybrid system to continue his top 5 streak at the Indianapolis 500 that stretches back to 2022.

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Ed Carpenter Racing has unveiled a drastically different set of liveries for the 2025 IndyCar season.

The two cars sport complementary designs, with both entries featuring a mix of baby blue, yellow, and black.

Alexander Rossi’s #20 entry is primarily blue on the car’s nose and rear wing, with hints of yellow being shown on the engine cover and other small highlights.

The #21 entry of Christian Rasmussen features much larger stretches of yellow, including on both wings, the sidepods, and the rear fenders.

The cars prominently feature the team’s newest sponsors Java House and Splenda, which are household brands recognizable to most fans of the sport.

“It is extremely exciting to have Java House and Splenda join our lineup!” said Carpenter. “To have not only one, but two, consumer brands is a great opportunity for ECR and IndyCar.

“In the few short months since Ted [Gelov] has joined ECR, the strides the team has made have been remarkable. It has been a full team effort and I am proud of everyone for the work they have put in.

“We are more than ready to see everything come to fruition when the Java House and Splenda cars roll out in St. Pete!”

The new branding, including a new team logo, is part of a bigger change for ECR, which added Ted Gelov to the ownership group late last year.

Gelov is the owner of Heartland Food Products, which is the parent company of both Java House coffee and Splenda sweetener.

His influence brought more than sponsorship for the long-running team, but also helped reshape the inner workings of the organization.

With additional perspective from a successful businessman from a different industry, Ed Carpenter has related there is so many new processes behind the scenes that this year feels a lot like 2012 when he started the team.

ECR hopes the new look and new management processes will lead to a productive year with their two drivers.

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Alexander Rossi is set to embark on a new journey with Ed Carpenter Racing in his 10th year competing in the NTT IndyCar Series.

He joins the team just as it has brought on an additional ownership partner and is rebranding itself top to bottom ahead of the 2025 season.

The newest owner in the group is Ted Gelov, who owns Heartland Food Products Group which produces Splenda and Java House Coffee. Both brands will hold major sponsorship positions on ECR’s cars this year.

During a preseason media session, Rossi described how the additional financial support will help the team, but more than anything he is impressed with the loyalty and dedication of the employees that keep the operation running.

“I think that what we’ve seen in this sport and we’ve seen in other championships, funding and money isn’t the solution to everyone’s problems,” explained Rossi.

“It certainly gives you the capability to have a better rate of development. It gives you the opportunity to maybe entice people into your organization and that sort of thing.

“But it’s still about the people, and I do think that a lot of the main people that are at ECR currently have been there for a very long time.

“There’s a lot of loyalty in the organization, and there’s a very close-knit group of individuals that, in their own right and together, are very, very good at what they do.

“They’ve maybe just not had all of the tools, resources and people to help them deliver the results that they are capable of. I think number one is people; number two is growing the good people and creating that environment; then number three is having the available funds to go do the projects and build the things that you need to do.”

A long-term commitment

Rossi comes to ECR after spending seven years racing for Andretti Global and the two most recent seasons with Arrow McLaren.

His most recent win came on the Indianapolis road course in 2022, and he was never quite able to achieve the results he hoped for in his time wearing papaya colors.

As much as ECR is a smaller organization than his previous teams, Rossi feels the group is dedicated to success in a way that will pay dividends over the next couple years.

He gets along well with Ed Carpenter on a personal as well as a professional level, and has already integrated smoothly into the new race shop.

The 33-year-old has plans to stay with the team long into the future and will work with his young team-mate Christian Rasmussen to help make ECR’s new approach a success.

“This is a long-term thing that I’m a part of and something that’s very exciting to be a part of and to contribute to,” said Rossi.

“And to do it alongside someone that I have a very good working and personal relationship with Ed [Carpenter], something that I feel like we as a group, Ed, myself, Christian, Ted Gelov from Heartland, we can all do as this kind of foursome and push things forward and get the results that we want.”

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Ed Carpenter Racing has announced that Alexander Rossi will join the team for the upcoming 2025 IndyCar season, pairing with Christian Rasmussen for the entire schedule.

Rossi has been looking for a new ride since early July, when it was announced that Christian Lundgaard would be filling his seat at Arrow McLaren.

He remained uncommitted throughout the end of the 2024 season, but ECR has now announced that he will fill the team’s #20 entry next year.

“I’m honored that Ed [Carpenter] and the entire ECR ownership group recognize the value I can bring to the team,” said Rossi.

“Their commitment to excellence, along with the power of Chevrolet and the ambitious plans they have for the future made this opportunity impossible to pass up. I’m eager to get started and contribute to the team’s continued success.”

Rossi will be racing alongside Christian Rasmussen, who was a rookie in IndyCar last season.

The Danish driver was originally scheduled to run only the road course races and the Indianapolis 500, but a late decision by team owner Ed Carpenter placed him in a seat for the final three oval races of the season as well.

Carpenter made the decision to help secure a Leaders Circle payout for the entry, which worked out as Rasmussen finished higher than Carpenter had throughout the early portion of the season.

Rasmussen will now be a full time driver for his sophomore season and will shift over to the #21 entry for 2025.

Ed Carpenter making changes to his team

“It is an exciting day to not only welcome Alex [Rossi] to the team, but to extend our relationship with Christian [Rasmussen],” said Carpenter in the press release.

“We are very excited about our lineup, and other partnership announcements that will be forthcoming.

“As excited as I am about these additions, I also want to thank Rinus [VeeKay] for his five years with the team. It is always hard to say goodbye to a teammate and a friend, but I am confident that Rinus’ career will continue to blossom.

“As we look ahead to 2025 and beyond, I am fully focused on getting ECR back to new heights, winning races and contending for championships.”

Both drivers have signed multi-year deals with ECR, keeping them with the team at least through 2026.

Carpenter will still be behind the wheel for the upcoming Indianapolis 500, driving a third car for the squad for the premiere event.

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In early July, Arrow McLaren announced that it would be parting ways with Alexander Rossi at the end of the 2024 IndyCar season.

The decision was made to bring Christian Lundgaard into the team, and Rossi has been working to finalize his own plans since then.

As more and more pieces of the 2025 IndyCar grid start falling into place, the direction of Rossi’s move has been uncertain, with some pondering if he will even be on the grid next year.

The 32-year-old does not seem worried about that prospect, however, and said that he is working through a set of options to find which is the best fit.

“Very confident,” said Rossi when MotorsportWeek.com asked about his chances of landing at a good spot next year.

“You’re trying to find the best recipe. That includes a lot of different ingredients. The ingredients are on the table, it’s just making the best situation out of them.

“I always think it’s a little bit of both [party’s decision]. It’s two people getting married. It’s not just one person’s decision.

“There’s a lot of parties involved and we’re all trying to figure out what future plans are for the organizations and what that fit is like with me or potentially not me. Just putting those puzzle pieces together.”

Rossi has raced for Arrow McLaren for the past two seasons, but has yet to score a win with the team.

His most recent win came at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2022, near the end of his five-year tenure with Andretti.

With seemingly a few options still on the table regarding his next move, Rossi is being looked at as one of the next major driver announcements for next season.

“Potentially,” followed up Rossi when asked if things could be finalized by the end of the season. “Some things are closer than others. That would be nice to have something going into Nashville, but if not it doesn’t make a difference.

“I think we’re the next [announcement]. I think also, for whatever reason, IndyCar silly season starts earlier and earlier every year. When you talk to people and you think about where we’re at now.

“It’s August. I’m still contracted to McLaren through the end of October. Not that that changes anything, but these decisions don’t need to be made right now.”

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Valentino Rossi believes Ducati’s outgoing MotoGP riders feel “betrayed” by the Bologna manufacturer signing Marc Marquez.

Speaking out for the first time since the events that saw Ducati pick Marquez to replace Enea Bastianini at the factory squad next season, with both riders in a three-way battle for the seat with Pramac’s Jorge Martin, Rossi believes that there are strong repercussions from this signing.

Martin’s approach was factory Ducati or no Ducati, with the announcement later revealed that he would be joining rival manufacturer Aprilia.

Bastianini will ride for Tech3 GasGas for 2025, with VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi also leaving the Ducati stable to accompany Martin at Aprilia.

Pramac and Ducati also ended its long-standing affiliation, with Pramac choosing Yamaha from 2025 on a long-term deal.

Rossi believes that the next factory Ducati rider should have been a rider within its existing talent pool, rather than bringing in eight-time champion Marquez.

The MotoGP legend told L’Équipe: “I didn’t quite understand it. Ducati had an interesting system in place, with a pyramid that allowed young riders to progress.

“So Pecco was brought on board, and both Martin and Marco Bezzecchi were also waiting for him. And suddenly Ducati decided to bring Marc in.

“It’s normal that [the riders] feel betrayed. From one moment to the next they no longer count, so I’m not surprised that they consider the choice of Marquez to be a joke.

“The consequence of that [the signing of Marquez] is the breaking of the alliance with Pramac.”

Rossi believes that Bagnaia will be up for the task against Marquez when the Spaniard joins the factory outfit, with Ducati having one of the best line-ups in recent MotoGP history.

“Pecco is ready,” he said. “He is making a difference and has managed to raise the bar. He’s a two-time [MotoGP] world champion and he’s fighting for a third title, but in my opinion he didn’t need Marc in the box to prove he’s number one.”

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2021 MotoGP World Champion Fabio Qaurtararo has picked out Marc Marquez as the greatest rider in the series’ history, despite idolizing Valentino since childhood.

Quartararo’s rise to MotoGP prominence with Yamaha coincided with Rossi’s final years in the sport.

After two impressive seasons with the satellite Petronas Yamaha squad in 2019 and ’20, Quartararo swapped teams with Rossi to ride for the factory squad in 2021, winning his maiden title in the process.

Rossi meanwhile, bowed out of MotoGP at the end of 2021 and in an interview with jewellery brand TwoJeys, Quartararo discussed how the influence of the nine-time champion impacted him growing up in and around the paddock.

“My idol was always Valentino,” he said. “My relationship with him was in stages. When I was seven years old, I had my photo taken. Later, when I was 15, he invited me to his ranch. And in 2021 we swapped places.

“At that time the pressure was enormous because I had to take the place of the king. In my case, I have more people who inspire me, but since I was five years old, my idol has been him.”

Despite holding Rossi in such regard, Quartararo went on to say that he rates eight-time champion Marquez higher than the Italian in his best-of-all-time list, attributing the Spaniard’s tenacity and aggressive riding style.

“I always liked Valentino, but Marc is the best ever, even if he has won fewer titles,” the Frenchman said. “In 2014 [when he entered his second year in MotoGP] he won the first ten races of the year and I thought, ‘who is this guy?’

“And on top of it all is that you put him in wet races, dry races, windy races, in good conditions or the worst, and he is always very fast.

“For me, he is the example that best describes what he is like as a rider. He is very aggressive, and when you see him riding it looks like he is a second and a half faster than you.”

Marquez will be on the factory Ducati for 2025 alongside double reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia, while Quartararo opted to remain loyal to Yamaha until 2026 despite being offered appealing options elsewhere.

Despite retiring in 2021, Rossi’s influence in MotoGP is still ever-present, with him leading his own VR46 team supplied by Ducati while balancing commitments to car racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship and GT World Challenge Europe.

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Five-time Grand Prix World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has heaped heavy praise on MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta, saying he has combined qualities of motorcycle racing legends Casey Stoner, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez.

The 20-year-old Acosta stepped up to the premier class following three years and two world titles in Moto3 and Moto2 and has so far exceeded expectations despite his immense potential.

The rookie sits sixth in the championship heading into the summer break, ahead of Tech3 GasGas team-mate Augusto Fernandez and the factory KTM duo of Jack Miller and Brad Binder.

The Spaniard accumulated two Sunday race podiums at Portimao and Austin in his opening three races, alongside three Sprint race podiums.

Speaking on the DAZN Spain Documentary, ‘Decoded: Pedro Acosta,’ Lorenzo gave his extraordinary verdict on the young Spaniard.

“He has something of Stoner and Valentino, namely charisma. And he also has something of Marc, namely ambition and self-confidence.”

Lorenzo added that these qualities are a “perfect blend” of these three legends of modern MotoGP.

“What sets him apart from others is the preparation, the thousands of hours he has spent on the bike since he was little.

“I would only give him one piece of advice: that he must be careful about falls, because a serious injury could end his career.”

Acosta’s continually rising star has already earned him a promotion to the factory KTM squad, displacing Miller for the 2025 season to line up alongside Binder.

Amid a Ducati onslaught in recent rounds and KTM falling a step behind its Italian rivals, Acosta hasn’t been quite as glittering in his displays compared to the early rounds of the season.

The Tech3 rider has scored just nine points in the last two rounds, but his charisma and talent are befitting of a future race winner and MotoGP champion.

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Arrow McLaren has announced that Theo Pourchaire will replace Alexander Rossi for the remainder of the IndyCar event weekend in Toronto.

Rossi ran wide on the exit of Turn 8 during Friday’s practice session, and he was seen clutching his hand in the cockpit after the steering wheel whipped around during the contact.

It was later confirmed that Rossi broke his right thumb and would not be able to compete for the rest of the weekend.

Pourchaire will step into the #7 entry for Saturday’s qualifying and for the race on Sunday, missing today’s practice as he travels from Europe to Toronto.

The choice is particularly interesting, as Pourchaire drove for Arrow McLaren earlier in the season.

The 20-year-old veteran of F2 raced for a couple events in the team’s #6 entry while it was still deciding the long-term plan in the wake of David Malukas’ pre-season injury.

Pourchaire was then told that he was going to be with the team for the remainder of the season, but that was taken back just a few weeks later when the team announced that Nolan Siegel would be taking over the entry.

There has been speculation that Arrow McLaren and Pourchaire did not end their relationship on good terms, especially considering he was promised a nearly full season in IndyCar only to have that taken away, but a recent social media post by Pourchaire denied those rumors.

The late driver change continues a remarkable season full of discontinuity within the team, with Pato O’Ward being the only stable driver all season in the #5 car.

Rossi is fortunate that there is a large break on the IndyCar schedule following this weekend’s race in Toronto, and he will have until August 16 until the next official on track session.

He and the team will hope he can be fully healed by that time in order to compete in the race from World Wide Technology Raceway.

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Arrow McLaren has announced that it is bringing on Christian Lundgaard for the 2025 IndyCar season, replacing Alexander Rossi in the #7 entry.

Lundgaard has been driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing ever since he made his IndyCar debut on the IMS road course in the middle of the 2021 season.

He continued with the team for the past three years, and have given RLL its only win in that time with a victory on the streets of Toronto in 2023.

The Danish driver will make his way to Arrow McLaren next season, where he will pair with Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel.

“I’m excited to have my plans set for 2025 and beyond, and I’m thrilled it’s with Arrow McLaren,” said Lundgaard.

“I have a lot of respect for Zak [Brown], Gavin [Ward], Tony [Kanaan] and the team, and I think Pato [O’Ward], Nolan [Siegel] and I will work well together.

“I’m focused 100% on finishing this season strong with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. We have a lot of the season left, but this is a huge weight off my shoulders that will hopefully let me compete at my best the next nine races.”

The announcement is the latest in a series of driver changes for Arrow McLaren over the past few months, and means that O’Ward will continue to be the most tenured driver at the squad, having driven the #5 entry since 2020.

Rossi drove for the team for the past two seasons, but the results were not what either side had hoped for. The 2016 Indy 500 winner has only earned two podiums over the past two seasons, and has failed to break into the top 5 of the points standings.

Rossi did not announce where he will be driving next season, but his statement seemed to indicate that the ending of his relationship with Arrow McLaren was mutual.

“My time at Arrow McLaren, while it’s been only short two seasons, has been rewarding in many ways,” said Rossi. “I’m grateful to have been part of the team’s internal growth.

“The No. 7 crew is fantastic, and I’ve built a lot of long-lasting friendships with the team. Zak, Gavin, Tony and I had many conversations over the last several months on my future with the team. We were not able to come to terms on a new deal, so the mutual decision to part ways is amicable.

“I’m very confident with current discussions in the paddock to land a new spot. I’ll have good news to follow soon, and meanwhile I’m focused on a top-five finish in the 2024 championship and a strong conclusion to my time in papaya.”

Rossi and Lundgaard will each finish out the season at their current teams, beginning with the race this weekend at Mid-Ohio.

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